What's Up With The Wheelers: August 2024

Salzburg: this city has such a special place in my heart! The very first place I ever traveled abroad, Salzburg was my home for an entire year when I was an exchange student in high school. I was sixteen when I arrived, turning seventeen shortly thereafter. Coming back with seventeen year-old Talia was a remarkable stroll down memory lane. For years I've had this recurring dream where I am wandering through the passageways of Salzburg searching for a special place of precious beauty to share with my family. It sounds cheesy, but sharing Salzburg with Talia felt like the fulfillment of this dream.

But wait! I'm getting ahead of myself. In order to understand why Salzburg is so special to me, you have to meet my host family. When I first arrived in Europe in 1995, I was greeted by my wonderful host family, the Nittmanns. They picked me up in Munich and managed to squeeze me and my huge pieces of luggage into the family car, driving me back to Siezenheim, their small village located on the outskirts of Salzburg. Here we are with Dorli, my host mother, standing outside the same apartment that welcomed me to Austria. It had been nearly three decades since we first met! I've changed a lot, but Dorli hasn't aged a bit. In truth, it felt so warm and welcoming to be "home" again.

Even though the weather was unusually hot, Talia and I took a short stroll around Siezenheim. I showed her this lovely church--the setting for one of my favorite holiday memories. On Christmas Eve of 1995, we gathered here for midnight mass and to sing Christmas carols by candlelight.

The church has a small adjoining cemetery with well-kept family graves.

She's not dead yet! Here's Talia napping in the very same room where I lived as an exchange student.

And here you can see my host father Helmut helping to serve dinner, along with his grand-daughter Alma. Before retirement, Dorli taught high school English and French while Helmut worked in car sales. Now they love to read, travel, and spend time with their children and grandchildren.

Dorli and Helmut have two children, Johannes and Evi. Here's my host-brother, Johannes, who went to West Liberty, Iowa as a Rotary exchange student while I came to Salzburg. He and his wife Nora have twin daughters who are a year older than Annika. Sadly we missed Evi because she and her family were traveling through Denmark in their vintage Volkswagen bus. So adventurous!

Talia checks out the incoming storm from the balcony.

Homemade strudel! Dorli is an amazing chef.

Enjoying the dinner conversation. Johannes is a fantastic story teller. He has some pretty astonishing true tales, including a run-in with the FBI during his exchange. Rural Iowa was a bit unprepared for this snowboarding Austrian with a ponytail. They nearly sent him home when his uncle sent him a bottle of beer for his sixteenth birthday and it broke in the mail! (Sixteen is the legal drinking age in Austria.) Gotta say, that one was not Johannes's fault.

A photo of the whole group: on the left we have myself, Talia, Helmut, and Johannes. On the right is Nora, Alma, Dorli, and Lottë.

The next morning Talia discovered the delight of breakfast in the Nittmann household. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. One of my favorite memories of Austria was gathering for breakfast every morning to the smell of semmel (Kaiser rolls) warming on the radiator. We regularly indulged in jam, nutella, brie, wurst, schwarzbrot, hot chocolate, and so much more. I've often wished I'd made daily breakfast a tradition for my own family. Perhaps it's not too late? I have a feeling that with a spread like this, everyone would approve.

Note those beautiful eggs?

They actually come from the local Huehnermobil, a mobile chicken coop where happy hens spend the day scratching dirt and eating worms.

You pay for the eggs in this cute little self-serve shop based on the honor system. Gosh, I love Siezenheim!

On our way back from buying eggs, we happened to see the village band cycling past in traditional clothing.

Homes in Siezenheim are numbered based on when they were built. The house number "6" means this was the sixth home constructed here.

Also, did I mention that Siezenheim is a five minute walk from Germany? All you do is stroll across the bridge and you are suddenly in Deutschland, no passport required.

Okay, enough pontificating about my favorite small town in the world. After enjoying breakfast, Talia and I went for a run from the Mönchsberg (monk's mountain) through the old town of Salzburg. Well, technically we split ways and met up after an hour because it turns out that jogging back and forth with your mother while she tries to figure out which path to take can be highly annoying.

Helmut has a pretty great story about making friends with a nun from this sequestered monastery, including sneaking her and her friend back in through the gate when they got locked out.

Views of the Salzach and the Festung Hohensalzburg. There's another reason I'm annoying to run with: I'm always stopping to take pictures.

When I think of Salzburg, I often think of its many beautiful baroque steeples.

Of course, many others think of Salzburg as the place where the Sound of Music was filmed.

Here you can see the same Mirabell Gardens. As an exchange student, I was supposed to perform an alphorn solo here with my school band. The piece was called the Edelweiss Polka--rather ironic that an American should be featured as the guest artist. I recall feeling GREATLY relieved when the concert got rained out.

I finished up my run by meeting Talia on the famous Getreidegasse. Originally I'd planned to meet her at McDonald's, but thankfully it's no longer there. (Granted, the wrought iron signage for the Golden Arches was pretty unique.)

Instead of a burger and fries, I could have bought Talia a beautiful dirndl.

Pointing out Mozart's birthplace. At the time Mozart was born, Salzburg was its own governing province, meaning that Mozart wasn't Austrian at all, but a Salzburger!

For the most part, Salzburg's Altstadt (Old Town) has remained the same, but this pedestrian bridge with locks of love is new.

Talia, thanks for sticking with your ma and letting me share this special city with you!

After our run, Talia and I took a bus to Schloss Hellbrunn.

Relaxing before our tour.

You may recognize this "You are 16, Going on 17" pavilion where Liesl and Fritz danced.

However, Schloss Hellbrunn is better known for its bizarre water features, including this strange water filling station.

Markus Sittikus, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, displayed quite the sense of humor as he developed these trick fountains. Here at the royal table, the archbishop's seat is dry while everyone else's squirts water. It would have been considered highly improper for the nobles to to rise before their host.

Watch out! These deer antlers squirt water. Also, note the bizarre columns with feet.

This grotesque face sticks out its tongue while the green eyes roll back into its head.

Even more impressive is this intricate automaton of an entire village, all powered by hydraulics. We were a bit horrified to discover that the poor cow gets slaughtered by the butcher over and over.

That evening we were grateful to both the cow and the butcher as we dined on Wiener Schnitzel. Helmut and Dorli took us to a delicious restaurant right on the Getreidegasse where we could watch them prepare our meal. As for myself, I enjoyed a fabulous vegetarian Tafelspitz.

Excited for our night out on the town. The Nittmanns generously treated us to a performance at the Salzburger Festspiel. While Dorli and her colleague went to a piano performance, Helmut treated Talia and myself to a world premiere dance performance.

Called Spiegelneuronen (Mirror neurons), this interactive performance explored the idea of how neurons function both individually and collectively by experimenting on how we as an audience would involve ourselves in the work if dancers were planted in our midst. Helmut, Talia, and I were all seated in different places in front of a giant mirror, so we all had unique experiences based on the people (neurons) around us. Talia was quite front and center with several enthusiastic dancers nearby, one of whom literally (and artistically) climbed over her at one point. As for myself, I was far more comfortable in my seat farther back on the side, slightly hidden in the shadows. Less in the spotlight, I felt safe moving and danced my private heart out.

Toward the end there was a delightful section where the mirror turned into a screen of falling sand that protectively enveloped a few audience members.

Shortly after the show ended, we were treated to an impressive rain shower. We hung out in one of the passageways as we waited for the storm to pass, entertained by a rat who kept darting around looking for a safe space to stay dry.

Helmut and Dorli, thank you for the wonderful evening! You invited me to a Salzburger Festspiel performance during my very first days with you in Austria--thank you for spoiling me again. :)

But wait, the fun isn't over! The next day Helmut and Dorli took us to their amazing little cottage on the Mondsee, just thirty minutes from their house. It's a tiny waterfront property, but they have turned it into something magical.

Here's Talia checking out the view.

What a pretty place! I wish I'd taken a picture of the entire cottage because it has an amazing history. Here's the story as best I can remember, although I probably have some details wrong. Apparently the cottage literally crosses the border between the provinces of Salzburg and Oberösterreich (Upper Austria.) The Nittmanns own the front 2/3 of the cabin, having purchased it twenty years ago in a fortuitous moment when Dorli's colleague was looking to sell. Properties on the Mondsee are almost impossible to get because the lake is privately owned and extremely protected with no further development allowed. They also own the rights to the waterway in front of the house while a fisherman owns the back third. A few years back they had a huge scare when it was discovered that Oberösterreich had no record of a building permit ever being acquired for the cottage, meaning that the entire thing could be demolished with no chance of rebuilding. Fortunately they discovered that the building permit had been pulled in Salzburg instead and the situation was resolved.

The Nittmanns remodeled the cottage and turned it into the most adorable tiny house with a bed on the main floor and sleeping loft/play space above. They have a composting toilet and space to keep kitchen utensils and other basic supplies on hand.

All the cooking happens on the grill and burner alongside the house.

Dinner always comes with a beautiful view.

Dorli's lemon pasta was delightful, although she claims it's even tastier with cream.

The lakefront may not be large, but there's plenty of room for some lawn chairs, a kayak, a canoe, and a small sailboat. Johannes even came out to go for a trail run with us, but in the end we decided that we'd all prefer to relax instead.